That news, according to the Guardian, has supermarket vultures Morrison's, Tesco and Sainsbury's circling around vulnerable stores with a view to expanding their own presence on the high street.

Sniffing around

The report claims that Morrison's is looking to buy up 20 sites from HMV, while also sniffing around soon-to-be-vacant Blockbuster outlets.

It is widely acknowledged that HMV's life was made much more difficult by supermarkets undercutting its prices on CDs, games and DVDs, so it would be a cruel irony if our local HMV became a Tesco Metro.

Neil Saunders of Retail analysts Conlumino said: "There is a big push for good convenience store space and there is probably more demand than supply.

"HMV has some quite prime sites on high streets, but not all its sites will be suitable."

Saga

The HMV saga looks set to rumble on in the coming weeks. Earlier this week, we reported on news that Hilco had snapped up the company's £176m debt for a cut-price £40m, with a view to buying up the chain.